Legal and financial assistance

Financial assistance

Dealing with cancer can present significant financial challenges. Finding time for appointments and treatments while facing medical bills and additional travel costs can all take a toll on your budget.

Cancer Council can help you find relevant community and government resources that may be able to assist you financially.

We may be able to provide a one-off grant to help you meet specific financial challenges posed by cancer. This is assessed on an individual basis usually through a social worker at your treatment centre.

Talk to your social worker first, then call Cancer Council 13 11 20 if you need further assistance.

Qualified financial planners from the Financial Planning Referral Service can help you with:

applying for Centrelink benefits

budgeting

transitioning to retirement

planning for your children’s future

debt management

superannuation and insurance.

Legal assistance

Qualified lawyers from the Legal Referral Service can help you with:

drafting wills

powers of attorney

early access to superannuation

mortgage hardship variations

credit and debt issues

insurance claims and disputes

employment and discrimination

tenancy.

How does it work?

Cancer Council will connect you with a lawyer or financial planner. Usually you will meet them at their office but if you are very unwell, they may be able to visit you in hospital or at home.

If you speak a language other than English we can arrange an interpreter for you.

Who can we help?

Anyone affected by cancer can apply. We will do our best to help you but we may not always be able to assist. You must pass a means test in order to qualify for free assistance. If you do not satisfy the means test you can still choose to have paid assistance.

Your social worker or Cancer Council can help you find out if you are eligible and will let you know if there are services in your area.

How much does it cost?

For eligible clients, legal and financial planning assistance is provided at no cost. If you do not satisfy the means test you can still choose to have paid assistance.

Stay in the loop

Your privacy is as important to Cancer Council SA as it is to you. That's why any personal information you give us will be treated with respect and in strict confidence. Personal information is collected to process donations, issue tax receipts and to send you updates. We may disclose your information to agents, contractors and third parties who provide services to us, and in doing so we take reasonable steps to ensure any information held by our service providers is protected. A full copy of our Privacy Policy is at www.cancersa.org.au/privacy with details about how you can access and correct your personal information and how we handle any privacy complaints. Or call us on 1300 65 65 85 for more details about our commitment to your privacy.